Observation/Reflection #3: A Matter of Style During this visit, you should work with one or more groups of students if you have not already, and observe your teacher doing the same. For this journal entry, describe your teacher's teaching style. What type of relationships with students does he or she nurture in his or her classes? How do students perceive that power is distributed in the classes? Does this vary within or across the different classes, the teacher has? Cite examples from your observations to support your inferences. Remember to reflect on what style of teaching you will gravitate toward and the how you want to be perceived by your students. Observation The students perceive Mr. Bentley as the “cool teacher” he is very project based in his teaching.The students like his teaching style because it is very nontraditional he will joke with his students even in the middle of class and has no problem poking fun of his students.The students all seem to understand that it is in good fun and just think of Mr. Bentley as a little goofy.The important thing about Mr. Bentley’s style is while he may be “the cool” teacher the students all trust him.They trust both his word and his judgment.While I will not get into specifics, I have seen Mr. Bentley break a minor school rule to keep his word with a student.While the rule was one of the minor, no chewing gum type rules Mr. Bentley’s willingness to go out on a limb shows why he has such a good relationship with his students.I have observed one major draw back to this style respect.The students for the most part will respect a teacher they enjoy but I have observed the exception. There is a small group of students who seem to view Mr. Bentley as more of a peer then an authority figure. Reflection I really like Mr. Bentley style but do not think that I would work for me.While I like the idea of the cool teacher, I think the chances of a student getting defensive when you are poking fun of them out way the benefit of a laugh.I also want my students to respect me as an authority figure I think that is exceedingly important in any class where lab activities will be preformed. I hope to be the kind of teacher who has the trust and respect of his students but is at the same time a figure of authority.
During this visit, you should work with one or more groups of students if you have not already, and observe your teacher doing the same. For this journal entry, describe your teacher's teaching style. What type of relationships with students does he or she nurture in his or her classes? How do students perceive that power is distributed in the classes? Does this vary within or across the different classes, the teacher has? Cite examples from your observations to support your inferences. Remember to reflect on what style of teaching you will gravitate toward and the how you want to be perceived by your students.
Observation
The students perceive Mr. Bentley as the “cool teacher” he is very project based in his teaching. The students like his teaching style because it is very nontraditional he will joke with his students even in the middle of class and has no problem poking fun of his students. The students all seem to understand that it is in good fun and just think of Mr. Bentley as a little goofy. The important thing about Mr. Bentley’s style is while he may be “the cool” teacher the students all trust him. They trust both his word and his judgment. While I will not get into specifics, I have seen Mr. Bentley break a minor school rule to keep his word with a student. While the rule was one of the minor, no chewing gum type rules Mr. Bentley’s willingness to go out on a limb shows why he has such a good relationship with his students. I have observed one major draw back to this style respect. The students for the most part will respect a teacher they enjoy but I have observed the exception. There is a small group of students who seem to view Mr. Bentley as more of a peer then an authority figure.
Reflection
I really like Mr. Bentley style but do not think that I would work for me. While I like the idea of the cool teacher, I think the chances of a student getting defensive when you are poking fun of them out way the benefit of a laugh. I also want my students to respect me as an authority figure I think that is exceedingly important in any class where lab activities will be preformed. I hope to be the kind of teacher who has the trust and respect of his students but is at the same time a figure of authority.